Mac Tire � Son of the EarthPart 5 - Healing and DiscoveryLij woke to find Dom nuzzling his neck; it was a nice feeling. Very nice. Lij opened his eyes, but he could see nothing as it was still very dark . The embers of the fire glowed faintly, but not brightly enough to light the place. A cough and the sound of a shifting body told the men there was someone sleeping nearby, so no words were spoken. Lij touched Dom's face, and Dom gently kissed the hand. Lij smiled, softly kissed Dom's lips and whispered his most pressing need into his ear. Dom reached for the bucket nearby, and Lij used it thankfully. A disembodied voice both men recognised, spoke into the dark. "Could you drink a drop of broth, now?" Ayveen said, quietly rising. "I have some keeping warm, here, in the fire." She lit a taper and two brands set into the wall, and Lij looked at Dom as if he'd rather consume him than the broth. Dom's eyes darkened. The men clasped the warm beakers, and the hot pungent liquid comforted them as they drank. Lij put his cup down, and spoke quietly. "Lady, have they found our friend amongst the survivors, do you know?" Dom looked sharply at his partner. "Who, Lij?" Lij smiled, sadly. "Who but Pen-Nekeb?" Lij was the oarsmaster! He must have been! "He has a lover on board, this I know" Ninus had said. Dom grinned. Lij had not been alone on the ship. He had had a friend with him. Dom's heart felt lighter. Ayveen shook her head. "I do not yet know, my friends. There are many of the crew quartered in this village and the next. There were over a hundred and fifty souls on that ship, according to the captain - we have buried forty one of them. The sea on this coast is a starving wolf, it is so. I will ask amongst the people for Pen-Nekeb, Lij." "Thank you, Ayveen. He speaks a little of the language. I taught him on the ship," Lij smiled as the Lord Of Tara's eyebrows threatened to disappear into his hairline. "This I must hear!" Dom grinned, finishing his broth, and wiping his mouth. Lij stared at him, his eyes enormous in his pale face. "If he lives, Dom. If he lives." Dom touched Lij's hand briefly. Ayveen came over to Lij again, and indicated that he lie down. "I must put a clean dressing on your wound, Lij." Dom watched her nimble fingers remove the woollen strip from Lij's chest, revealing a large red patch where the skin had been ripped from his chest, probably by some flotsam from the wrecked ship. It looked clean enough, if painful. It would heal without leaving a scar, Dom decided. He was grateful. Lij's body was to Dom, perfect. Nothing should mar its beauty. As Ayveen poured clear honey onto Lij's chest, and dabbed at it with some sheep's wool, Dom remembered what the woman had said earlier. "Ninus is alive, then?" "He is," Ayveen said, not taking her eyes from her task. Lij's mouth was locked tight. This was hurting, but he was a strong man for all his apparent fragility. "He took a monstrous blow to the head, and I have ordered he be kept in bed awhile longer, until his sight clears." She wrapped a new bandage around Lij, and patted his leg. "I think your clothing has dried, now. You may put it on if you can stand without falling. If you can't - then down in the bed you go!" Lij laughed. "And you will force us, Lady?" Ayveen smiled but there was a crease between her eyes that boded ill for any who tried to act contrary to her will. "I am used to being obeyed," she nodded. Dom rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But then, so is Lij." he said, winking at her. "I would enjoy watching the resulting fight." "You would not, so," she gave as her parting shot. "I have ways of exacting obedience to my will - andI am a big woman!" They could hear her laughing as she left the house, and left alone, Dom and Lij both rose rather shakily to their feet. They were surprised at how weak they felt. They helped each other put on their clothing, as it was a raw morning out of the protection of their nest of blankets and furs. Lij shivered. "Is it always so cold, Dom? I feel I will never be warm again." Dom stopped lacing his boots and stared at Lij in astonishment. "It is not yet deep winter, Lij. It gets far colder than this when the snow comes." Lij pulled a stool closer to the fire which was catching nicely with the wood Ayveen had piled on it before she left. "Snow...?" Dom sighed. "You will see. It is very pretty over the hills of Connemara when the snows come..." He stopped short, remembering why he was here, and what he had to do. Lij saw the look, and waited for Dom to speak. Dom saw the anxiety and sorrow in his spouse's eyes, and felt a pressure in his chest. How could he explain his behaviour to his most beloved? He thought of the secret he had learned just before he left Egypt, and the knowledge of this caused his heart to swell within him. Lij would be so very glad for him - for them both - for them all... ..."Dom?" a tentative voice broke in and Dom's thoughts shattered like Bithyan glass. "I am sorry, Lij...I am sorry....I didn't think. I...when I heard the news from Soraya of the carnage being unleased in my homeland, I lost my senses for a while. I had to go. I had to stop him...I..." Lij bowed his head, and both men moved to sit on stools near the fire to talk in comfort. Lij wondered at the prodigal burning of precious wood in this strange land. There was no wood like this in Egypt, except for those in his gardens and the date trees in the oases. All had to be brought in, piece by precious piece. He looked up at Dom, sitting silently opposite him. All the anger in him had dissipated, leaving only the burning question - why had Dom left so suddenly? "Dom, why did you not come to tell me you were leaving? Why did you not....?" Dom's face fractured for a moment in a wide grin, then grew serious again. "Because, my Lij, you would have forbidden me to go. And you forget you are still my liege lord of life and limb, even though we are one - you would have prevented me!" Lij started to deny it, then he stopped dead. Dom was right - it was true. He would have lost his Royal temper from fright. He would have tied his Dom to the bed to stop him leaving. Lij couldn't help smiling. "It is true I..." Ayveen came back at that moment, preventing further discussion. "We will talk later, I promise. I will make you see." Dom whispered and stood as the woman entered, but Lij remained sitting. He saw the frown between her eyes, as if she was puzzled at his discourtesy. He remembered where he was, and who he was. He was not king here - Dom was - even if no-one knew it yet. And Dom had risen. He stood and she nodded pleasantly at him. "I have found your friend," she smiled at their evident joy. She sat, and the men joined her, all placing their seats at a sensible distance from the fire, which was now blazing brightly. Lij looked at her eagerly. "Is he well? May we see him?" Ayveen nodded, but put her hand up to stem the flow of questions. "There is something I must ask you before you go to him. Felim, who rescued him and took him into his house has reported a strange thing concerning your friend, who has been placed in isolation until this matter is resolved. You know he is not as other men?" Lij's eyes flew to her face. "That he is a eunuch, you mean?" Lij glanced at Dom, but his spouse's face was unreadable, and he said nothing. Lij continued. "Yes, he has been thus for many years. It was my father who orde...it was done during my father's time. Pen-Nekeb has been my serv..friend...ever since. It is normal practise where I come from." Ayveen frowned. "Eunuch. The term is unknown to me. Why would any man inflict such pain on another being? Why was this done? Had he committed a terrible crime on some woman or child?" Lij shook his head, feeling the woman's distress keenly. "He did something my father did not like. That was the result." Ayveen's green eyes pierced Lij's blue ones. Her stare was almost painful in its intensity. "Your father was a cruel man, then, to deprive a fellow being of fatherhood and joy." Lij thought about it carefully. "No, he was not cruel. These things are accepted in our society. It is different there." The stare continued. "Presumably you inherited your father's place. Have you ordered that men be cut so?" Lij answered firmly and decisively. "I have. But not for punishment. It is accepted in my country - and many others - that this can be a needful thing. But I have not ordered it since Dom and I...since..." Lij's voice tailed away in distress. Since Kishlan Dom stretched out his arm, and grasped Lij's hand. "May we see Nekeb, now, Lady? Does he know we are safe?" Dom enquired. The woman shook her head. "I think shock has driven any knowledge he had gained of our tongue out of his head. Come, I will bring you to him." They all rose. Ayveen allowed herself a smile. "The fool nearly drowned himself. When Felim pulled him from the waves your friend was trying to push a great metal bowl filled with bundles ashore. He indicated that the men saved the things before he would accept help for himself. I ordered the contents of the bundles to be opened and dried. They were very...interesting.... We will talk of them later." She led them from the building and Lij paused on the threshold in shock. He was standing outside the largest dwelling in the village. All the other huts - for such they appeared to him...round buildings thatched with straw - stood in a large circle around the one they had rested in. There seemed to be about fifty of them. Men, women, and children went about their daily business. The dogs played with children, or were tied up in groups to a tree, of which there were many surrounding the encampment. The men and women were dressed alike in clothing slightly coarser and less well fashioned than those the two men wore. Eveyone stopped to look at them. One or two oarsmen from the wrecked ship, warmly clad now, hailed them as they carried wood to or from the huge stockpile on the edge of the circle. The ship's head cook was supervising the roasting of some large animal on a spit in a clearing, whilst a few men with bow and arrows carried smaller game into the enclave. Ayveen led them to a hut outside the circle, where a tall man armed with a spear stood at the door. "You may go, now, Manyeh. He is not a changeling, as we feared." The man nodded, and saluting her, walked away from the skin covered doorway. He did not, however, leave the area, but stared darkly at the two strangers. Ayveen entered first, followed eagerly by Lij and then Dom. Nekeb was lying on a thick skin. His left leg, wrapped in warm wool, lay on top of the coverings. He drew himself up as the people entered, then let out a cry as he saw Lij. "Great One! You are safe! Dom! Blessed be the gods!" Nekeb tried to rise, but his injured leg prevented him. Lij strode over and knelt at his friend's side as he lay on the floor. "Hush, now, friend. We are all safe. I am pleased to see you, Nekeb." Nekeb sobbed. "Lord! Lord! Forgive me - I could not save it all..." He stopped, overcome with weeping. Dom came and sat on Nekeb's other side, and rubbed his shoulder, whilst Lij held the shaking hands. "What nonsense is this, dear friend? What could you save that would be dearer to us than you are? Come, now, stop weeping, or I will begin, and so will Dom. And our gracious hosts will wonder what children have come to them." Nekeb sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. "You do not understand, Little Father - I lost the crown. Great One, I shall never be forgiven for it, neither in this world or the next." Lij stared at Nekeb, unable at first to understand what the shaken man was saying. "You brought the crown with you, Nekeb? The double crown?" The man bowed his head, unable or unwilling to meet his king's gaze. "I did, Exalted One. I thought..." Dom, more aware of listening ears, squeezed Nekeb's shoulder, murmuring "never mind, Nekeb. Such things can be replaced. Do not think of it." Lij leapt to his feet. "My father, blessed be his name forever, entrusted that crown to my care on his deathbed, Dom. Your crown might be more easily replaced, but not mine..." Nekeb sobbed anew. Lij's face was a mask of anguish. Dom was horrified. Ayveen had heard it all, and Dom did not know if she was their friend or not, as yet... He breathed out softly as he realized they had all been speaking in the Egyptian tongue, and the woman could not have understood them. But it made him realise that they must be discreet in their speech before these people in their own language, or they might never reach Tara. The tyrant king had friends, and there must be people terrified of his far-reaching vengeance if detected by them in any treasonable act. Erin was a large country, but there were supporters of Sowrawn in outlying areas. Ninus had told him that. He had met them on his last visit here. Dom tore his thoughts away from Sowrawn, and bent himself to the task of calming the distressed man. Ayveen brought forward a warm beaker of some herb smelling drink. "What has disturbed him so?" she asked Lij, who was kneeling behind Nekeb, holding him in his arms as he wept, trying to soothe him with low, gentle words. Nekeb shook his head at the proffered drink, but he was trembling like a leaf. "Drink it friend. I order you to do so." Lij smiled at him, and the man drank it down. Soon he slept in Lij's arms, and Dom and Lij, both exhausted by the outburst, left him to sleep. "He is distressed that he could not save all his precious bundles", Lij explained to Ayveen as she led them towards another hut. "They must have been precious, indeed, to have caused such anguish," she commented dryly, as she led them inside. "Here, Ninus, are some friends to see you," she smiled at the man lying prone on the floor, his eyes covered and his head neatly swathed in white woollen strips. The two men left the hut after a few moments. Ninus' world was still swimming around and talking made him nauseous. Lij spotted a few of his oarsmen, and rushed over to talk to them. Dom, who had not formed many relationships with the crew whilst on the ship, leaned against a hut and watched Lij with a smile on his lips. The men were pleased to see him. They clapped him on the shoulder and one heavily built man picked him up and swung him round for joy. After a few moments Lij excused himself and left the group. He looked pale. Dom thought he had spent enough time on his feet and needed further rest. He was not feeling too strong himself. They walked slowly back to the central hut, and went inside. It was empty, except for a young boy bringing wood for the fire. Lij sighed, and Dom looked at him sharply. After all these years together he knew what was coming. "Fetch Ayveen, quickly!" Dom instructed the boy as Lij crumpled in his grasp. Dom lay him down in the furs as Ayveen rushed in. Lij was twitching; Dom holding Lij's hand, looked at the woman blindly. "He has the falling sickness?" she asked, coming to Lij's side and kneeling down. Dom nodded. "It does not strike him so often, now, but when he is distressed or sick or very tired it still fells him." She felt his forehead. He was sweating, but the rictus had gone and Lij was lying there pale as milk but peaceful. After a few minutes he murmured "Dom!" without opening his eyes and his lover lay down beside him, putting his arm around Lij's waist. Lij sighed again, but this time it was a sigh of gratitude. "I will leave you to rest", Ayveen murmured as she stood. Dom smiled wearily up at her. Lij would be fine soon, but he needed rest. Soon they were both asleep. Ayveen crept in later to look at them wrapped in each other's arms. She nodded. Tonight she would sleep elsewhere. They could love each other, then. They needed to come together after their time apart. She left them in peace. |